Poem for such a time as this

The Inward Sea by Howard Thurman

There is in every person an inward sea, and in that

sea there is an island and on that island there is an

altar and standing guard before that altar is the “angel

with the flaming sword.”  Nothing can get by that

angel to be placed upon that altar unless it has the

mark of your inner authority.  Nothing passes “the

angel with the flaming sword” to be placed upon your

altar unless it be a part of “the fluid area of your consent.”

This is your crucial link with the Eternal.

Re-read this poem...is the sea of your life right now calm and smooth as glass or churning and chaotic?
As you sit on the island of life...what has been placed on the altar of your life? 
Where do you want to discuss or debate Thurman...what has been put on your altar you didn't want?  Maybe a relationship struggle or medical illness. 
Rob Bell often asks these two questions, "Is this all there is?"  Meaning - is what I am seeing and sensing on the surface all there is or might there be more just beneath; if I keep digging.  Second, what might this have to teach me? 

May our link to the eternal...the inner seas of our life this day...stir and swirl with more than a trace of God's grace.

Blessings ~~